Provost Kersh announces progress on Plan for Academic Excellence and upcoming forums

November 18, 2019

The following announcement from Provost Rogan Kersh was e-mailed to faculty and staff on Nov. 18:

Greetings Wake Forest colleagues—I hope this finds you thriving as the fall semester draws to a close. I write to follow up on my announcements last spring regarding a Plan for Academic Excellence (PAE; originally termed an ‘Academic Master Plan’). The PAE will be a comprehensive statement of our academic mission and programs as they stand at present, and as we strive to shape them for the future.  In preparing this document, we will consider the fast-shifting landscape of higher education as well as highlights and significant developments across our academic practices in recent years.

Over this year, a steering committee (listed below) comprised of faculty and staff from all schools and major academic offices across the Reynolda Campus will affirm our current—and explore evolving—ways of providing learning and producing research and creative work consonant with our core institutional values, in a higher education system undergoing tectonic change. I am deeply grateful to Michele Gillespie (Dean of the College) and Charles Iacovou (Dean of the School of Business) for agreeing to co-chair this project, as I am to faculty and staff colleagues across the university for your willingness to provide advice/counsel, serve on the steering committee, and otherwise help chart our hoped-for future of teaching/learning and scholarship at Wake Forest.

Please join us next week at any of three open forums on the Plan for Academic Excellence. Charles and Michele, along with PAE committee members, will provide a snapshot of their initial planning, and outline the intended process from here. Details about those forums:

Tuesday, November 19 | 10:00-11:00 am, ZSR Auditorium 404

Thursday, November 21 | 12:30-1:30 pm, Farrell Hall A17

Friday, November 22 | 2:00-3:00 pm, Benson 401A

Over the coming weeks, a website and email address will be created and distributed to continue community exchanges as the Plan takes shape. You also will likely see me, Charles, and/or Michele at one of your faculty meetings or staff gatherings to discuss in detail the PAE. Looking forward to engaging with you throughout this vital work.

Yours in Thanksgiving gratitude, Rogan